scenes and tragedies
by cheriper
Summary: SasuSaku It starts with "Goodbye" and ends in "Hello".


**Title: scenes and tragedies**  
><strong>Summary<strong>: It starts with "Goodbye" and ends in "Hello".  
><strong>Theme<strong>: Alternate Universe  
><strong>Prompt<strong>: Hello/Goodbye from the SasuSaku Month Prompts  
><strong>Medium<strong>: Fanfiction  
><strong>Rating<strong>: T  
><strong><br>**

_5._

Haruno Sakura felt like there was no other feeling in the world but happiness, contentment, and that wonderful bubbling feeling of optimism building up in her stomach as she stroke the raven locks of her boyfriend who was resting his head on her lap. The overhead rays of sunlight, which she previously considered to be too hot or too bright, no longer bothered her. Yes, everything was just perfect now that Uchiha Sasuke finally acknowledged her to be more than just his friend.

"Ne Sasuke-kun." She prodded. "Tsunade-shishou arranged a schedule for me later at the Hospital."

The boy in her lap turned and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. "Hn. Ditch her."

Sakura let out a playful giggle before releasing a dejected sigh. "I can't. Not this time. There are a lot of patients tonight and Tsunade-shishou said I could finish my service time later. Do you know what that means?"

He tightened his hold around her. "What?"

"After tonight, I can spend as much time with you as you want! Isn't that great?" He didn't need to peek at her face to know she was beaming with happiness. If there was one person who embodied happiness, it would be Sakura.

He made a turn to get up and sit beside her, plucking a carton of blueberry juice from their lunch laid out in front of them. "You should really stop hording all the duties in the Hospital. Give the chance to others."

Sakura just glared at him. "This coming from the Student Council president, Soccer team captain, swimming team captain, Math Guild member, and Discipline Prefect. Did I forget anything?" She said mockingly.

"Haruno Sakura's boyfriend. That should've been first in order." He smirked before he claimed her lips with his, silencing his equally over-achieving girlfriend.

_7._

"Hello, Sasuke-kun."

"Why did you call me here?" He coldly spoke. Truth be told, he was aware that he had no right to speak to her in such a manner. But he just couldn't see any reason for them to ever speak again. She seemed fine after they last talked, and if she feels there should be things they should be talking about, she should've spoken up then.

Not now when he didn't need her complications in his life again.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, stop with the cold voice. It's not intimidating me, and I know that's your purpose of using it. Whatever happened to my favourite low tone you used to try on me?" Blue eyes he was so familiar with, glinted in mischief. There was a promise of wicked pleasure dancing around her eyes, her smile seemingly innocent but he knew from experience how dangerous that pair of lips is.

He used to think of them as delectable and he's trying very hard right now not to use that word again.

Yamanaka Ino stepped closer to him, making sure he catches a whiff of her lavender scent. For a moment, it took over his world, turning his timeline a few weeks earlier only to be pulled back again to the present as he felt her lithe arms wrap around him.

"Sasuke-kun."

Feeling outraged from her invasion of his personal bubble, or so he tried to tell himself, he held her wrist before hearing her speak so softly. "I'm dying."

His world almost fell apart when he heard a sob escape from this usually strong girl.

8.

"I'm dying." She spoke softly, shedding a tear or two until she felt his defences crumble down. She felt the warmth of his palms touch the small of her back with startling gentleness. As if she was going to disappear before him.

It was a touch so not like him, that for a single iota in eternity made her wonder if he was still the Sasuke she knew or a new Sasuke reconstructed by Sakura's healing hands. And for that length of time, she wondered to herself if she was too late. If she could still bring him back to her.

But she knows nothing of quitting, of handing over what was really hers to someone else. So she goes in for the kill.

"Leukemia. Tsunade-sensei said I only have a few more weeks to live." She clutched him harder, tighter to her. As if doing so would bring him closer.

"I... I want to spend my last days with you. Please. Let this be my dying wish."

She feels his gasp more than she heard it. She feels him stiffen under her arms, but she holds him even more closely to her, willing the distance between them to become shorter.

She thought she had lost him, until he held her with the same amount of desperation. She smirks inwardly.

_Gotcha._

9.

Sasuke hurries to find the locker room of the cheerleaders. He was supposed to meet up with Ino at 5pm but his Soccer practice extended. He didn't receive any confirmation from Ino, either, or messages asking him where he was like she usually does whenever he'd run late. And given the circumstances of Ino's sickly days, he couldn't help but worry that something might have happened with his girlfriend.

He reached the locker rooms and waited until the cheerleaders finished inside. Glancing at his wristwatch, he thought about all the things that could've happened in the three hours that he left her. She could've fainted. Or worse...

He shook his head, trying to clear out the unwanted thoughts.

He stood against the wall for about fifteen minutes before his patience ran out and he started walking around the gym altogether. It was oddly quiet around the place. The cheerleaders' locker room was the only source of loud noise and even that didn't permeate loud enough to cover the whole gymnasium.

Finally, he found the covered basketball court and decided to sit upon the benches when he heard moans from inside the court.

The court was well-lit, as if the basketball practices just ended. Sasuke wasn't a nosy person, but he thought about Ino and whenever she feels pain, she moans quite loudly. Her leukemia has been killing her, and he can see that. It kills him every time she lets out howls of pain.

He peeked inside the court. What he saw there made his blood run cold and for the first time in his life, he felt the bitter taste of pain brought by being played the fool.

Ino's unmistakable form was tightly wrapped around a silver-haired guy, definitely not dying.

1.

He has always been branded as the dark ominous figure that taints the brightness of Haruno Sakura. For years, he had kept silent about his station in her life, a dear and close friend to hers. For years, nothing happened to warrant any change. Sakura was always beside him and he couldn't hope for anything better.

Sometimes, he would feel the strong urge to more than just hold her. But those were times he'd rather keep his quiet than gamble with their friendship.

He knew he was a coward, but it was better than being headstrong and totally alone.

2.

"Sasuke-kun, you like Haruno-san, don't you?" He was startled by the question, but what he really caught his attention was the sombre tone Yamanaka Ino used.

She was the head cheerleader – the popular Queen Bee of the school. And, lately, she had been spending as much time with Sasuke as she could. Or so he observed. He wasn't too dim-witted to not realize that Ino had set her cap upon him. After all, she was all over him most of the time.

He didn't answer her question. He didn't have to. Ino just continued looking at him dejectedly.

"She doesn't even notice your feelings for her."

Sasuke sighed.

"I like you, Sasuke-kun. A lot. Please go out with me." And without any preamble, Ino crashed her lips upon his, not waiting for his answer.

At the back of his mind, he thought about Sakura and her reaction. It's not that he didn't like Yamanaka. In fact, he liked the attention she'd been giving him. It was as if he was cheating on himself, trying to feel the happiness he knew Sakura couldn't give him.

Sasuke hopes that Ino knows his answer already as he deepens their kiss.

3.

It has been two weeks since they started dating. She was his first girlfriend but he's pretty sure she's the best girlfriend ever. The amount of time they spend together was almost equal to the amount of time he spends awake. She is very attentive and he revels in the attention she's been showering upon him.

Until the District Games started.

If there was one thing in the world he could obliterate, it would've been the District Games. And granted that he didn't like quite a lot of things, it was saying something.

Momentarily forgetting where he was, he let out an uncharacteristic pout before sighing. A giggle cut through his thoughts, forcing him to compose himself.

"That's a pretty deep sigh, huh? Trouble with the Lady Love?" Sakura giggled once more. He was pretty sure she did that just to mock him.

"Shut up."

"Oh, I'm correct, ne?" she laughed, and for a moment it reminded him of the days when they would walk home together, and the unintentional touches they give each other. At least his touches were unintentional.

"You know," she started, her back facing him as she cleaned the blackboard. Today, they were assigned to stay up for class duties and that included after-school clean ups. He stared at her back, trying very hard not to feel bitter about the past. "If things are getting rough with Ino, you do know where to find me, right?"

This time, she turned and faced him with a smile on her pretty face. It could have beguiled him, but one look from her emerald eyes, and he suddenly realized he may not be the only one who felt the strain in their friendship.

He offered her a smile instead of his usual smirk. For this is Sakura, and she always deserved all the best things he could give her. "Aa."

4.

"Goodbye, Sasuke-kun! I had so much fun tonight!" Sakura chirped before running off (or at least tried to) in her yukata and wooden clogs.

It had been the annual school fair and they spent the whole day eating and trying all sorts of booths in the quadrangle. The night was finished off by a firework display, which Sakura insisted they watch.

For the past few days, Ino was being eaten alive by her cheering practices. Or so that's what he thought. He knew he couldn't do anything about it, but the transition from her lavish attention to absolutely no communication made him feel kind of lonely.

It was thanks to Sakura that he had managed to carry on. Somehow, Sakura puts an effort to make life interesting enough for him since Ino's lack of attentiveness. And for that short period, his past attraction to Sakura came back. Only, now, it was more intense.

The fact that Sakura has been trying to keep him company all the time made him rethink his decision to be with Ino when he's been in love with Sakura from the very beginning.

Tonight was purely filled with Sakura and her smiles and laughter. And somehow, he knows he won't be able to find laughter as magical as hers even if he tried. That his life was made to fit hers and hers alone.

Before Sakura could even make it far, he caught up to her and turned her around. The plastic boat of dango in her hands almost spilled as he spun her, and that was the last thing he saw in his peripheral vision as he crashed his lips upon hers.

She still tastes of the sweet dango sauce but her distinct flavour only further convinced him that he cannot live without Sakura in his life.

And aside from the tossed plastic boat of dangos, a pair of blue eyes watched the new couple with sadness and pain.

_Is this bitter taste... the taste of betrayal?_

6.

She had been expecting Ino to confront her since the school festival. She was aware that Ino knows. And it didn't sit well with her that she and Sasuke practically cheated on Ino. A confrontation was really bound to happen.

But what she didn't expect was being confronted two weeks into her relationship with Sasuke at the hospital. Maybe Ino thought a neutral ground was best for this topic.

Sakura offered Ino coffee, which the blonde accepted. Ino's aura was somehow odd for a person who should be brimming with anger for being made a fool of. The blonde cheerleader even looked mischievous; as if she was planning something wicked.

And that puts Sakura off.

"I'm going straight to the point here." Ino started. "I am going to take Sasuke back."

"It's not like he ever belonged to you."

Ino smirked. "Oh, but yes he did. He was mine first. Before you lured him away. I have to hand it over to you. You picked the best time to catch him."

Sakura narrowed he eyes. "I did not lure him. Everything just fell into place. Stop accusing me as if I'm a cheater—"

"But you are! You are aware that we were still dating! But that didn't stop you from using your claws on him! I was busy with cheerleading and you took advantage of Sasuke-kun's weakness!"

Emerald eyes widened as Ino's words pierced through her. Ino was right. They cheated on her. But she did not lure Sasuke.

_The blaming doesn't get anyone anywhere_, she thought.

"I'm taking Sasuke back. I will make him choose me over you. Just so you could have a taste of your own medicine, Doctor." Ino said mockingly, before she left Sakura and her damaged morals.

_10._

There were clutters of chips and nuts on the table. Bottles were toppled over and mugs lay forgotten, as Sasuke let himself be filled with the pain of being cheated.

The image of Ino with some bastard still affects him. He was hurt and his pride was wounded. All along, Ino was just toying with him. And it made him wonder if their first relationship was also a fraud.

Even if it wasn't, the thought that he had left Sakura to be with Ino in what she made him believe were her last moments made him feel even more buried with guilt.

He had tainted her with his selfishness, stringed her along for his quest of fleeting happiness. And in this whirlwind of guilt and regret, he blames Ino for playing him.

Suddenly, the torrent of emotions was just simply too much. It felt like he was going to die without anchoring himself onto something. And that something just happened to be his drinking partner for the night: Sakura.

If there was a prize for being a selfless person, Sakura would definitely receive it. When he knocked at her door at 10 pm, she could've pushed him away. She could've yelled and thrown her pain at him and he'd gladly accept all of it. But she just gave him a once over and opened her door to let him in.

And in her bedroom, they drank away all their heartaches. As if the alcohol could dissolve the missed chances and wrong decisions they have made.

He pulled her towards him and began kissing her, trying to correct the mistake by returning to her. But Sakura had different plans. She pushed him away gently.

"We can't do this anymore." She whispered. Her face lowered.

He knew she was also trying to hold onto the right thing. He could understand her, really. But all this time, he knew Sakura was the balm to his wounds. He knows she deserves better than that, but somehow he just keeps coming back to her after all the mistakes he had done.

"It hasn't stopped you before."

"I know! You cheated on Ino with me, Sasuke!" She snapped. Her green eyes glistening with tears as she looked him in the eye. "I thought I got you. But what I didn't know was that you could turn the tables against me. I trusted you. Ino trusted you. We both did."

"It wasn't just me!" Sasuke said in defense.

"It wasn't just you, of course." Sakura mumbled. "It was all three of us. For our downfall."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Uhm... cheating is bad, kiddies? I hope Sasuke came out as the attention whore kiddie. I really love the plot, I just killed it off when I wrote Sorry.


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